Ten

Sometimes beauty can be found in very unlikely places… Like a contaminated junk yard in South East London…

I am fascinated by how Nature reclaims spaces : A flower growing through the cracks of the pavement, vines taking over old buildings. I once saw two tall sycamore trees growing right outside the windows of an abandoned house in South East London. The house was inhabited by foxes and pigeons. I saw them looking back at me nervously through the letter box.

Our first Halloween. Our first Jack O’ Lantern – for both of us. I was born and grew up in France, where we didn’t use to even know what Halloween was…

…and this is how our first Christmas looked like…

This is our cat Henry. He is going to be 10 this year. Here he is, a tiny kitten, he has only been with us for a couple of days and he is already being used as a pillow. The big sleepy dog was called Jasmine. She left us just under a year after that picture was taken. We could write a whole book about her. She passed away in August 2010.

This is the Cutty Sark. The fastest clipper of her time… She is a landmark in Greenwich, which used to be my favourite place to visit back when we lived in South East London, many moons ago. I suffered from Post Natal Depression for quite a while, after my son was born and spending time in Greenwich Park a few times a week was an important part of my survival… I was craving for open skylines, trees, green spaces, and being able to see the horizon. I was also missing the ocean, so the Cutty Sark and the view on the docks made me feel like I was by the sea. I would sometimes close my eyes and hear the seagulls and it made me smile. Their calls comforted me. Going out for a walk in nature, even if all you have access to is a park is so helpful to get outside of one’s head, breathe and get some perspectives…

Tara and her Boy after we moved out of London. She was here when he was born. Her gaze has never left him ever since.

I have called the picture above Motherhood.

This is me admiring the beauty of these huge ganoderma mushrooms we found on the forest a few years ago…

These are gifts from a dear online friend I have met on Instagram. She is called Trish (@elf_nook_cottage) and she knitted me a snail, wrapped him up and sent him to me in the post with a bar of chocolate and a pebble. I don’t know how she knows me so well… This snail has come to me as a reminder. I really need to be getting on with things, slowly but steadily, to get everything ready for a rather big project we have coming up in Spring… And a lot needs doing. What do you think I should name him?

I have spent the week finishing pairs of socks. I just gifted a pair to my husband for Valentine’s Day. This is half a pair, for me :) Here’s my secret to avoid the Lone Sock Syndrome : just cast on the second sock straight away…

Knitting has been my therapy for many years. It has helped me a lot and has seen me through the eyes of the many storms of adult life. It is what really got me out of depression. It helps me to detangle my thoughts as I sit quietly, knitting through the intricate web of life.

Here it was: the last ten years, over ten photographs :)

Have a good night!

Noémie.